Scientific Experiment
by SouthernStars
Summary: She'd spent nearly all of spring break with him and was annoyed that he was actually talking to her when they arrived back at school. When asked, she claimed that she'd spent all that time with him as a scientific experiment. TxG oneshot.


DISCLAIMER: I do no own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: While I know that some of you are dying to find out what happens in my other two stories, especially MTLFM, I thought of this today during Ancient and was like, hey I like that idea. Of course, it's AU but that's only because that's exactly how I imagine my stories. They're all AU with maybe a little reference to the movie on the side! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this new one-shot!

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_**Scientific Experiment**_

"Can I have my kiss now?" Gabriella Montez spun in her chair to glare at the obnoxious voice of Troy Bolton. He grinned at her and Gabriella narrowed her eyes at the guy who had been making her life a living hell since they had gotten back from spring break.

"Will you just let it go? Seriously Troy, don't you have some other person to bother? Say someone who is willing to actually listen to you?" She snapped back and then wished she hadn't as Troy leaned back in his chair, his eyes amused as he studied her thoroughly. She heard someone make a suggestive noise as he smirked at her and knew that it had something to do with Troy's ever present sidekick Chad Danforth.

"Let what go Brie? I'm just asking you a question." Troy said innocently and Gabriella stared at him at loss for words for a moment. She couldn't believe that he could adopt such an innocent tone when he knew damn well what he _should_ have been letting go. Knowing that it would be better if she let it go instead of dwelling on it, Gabriella huffed out a breath and spun back around in her seat in time to read what the teacher had written on the board before she erased it.

Throwing her pencil down onto the desk she was sitting at, Gabriella tried to ignore the quiet chuckle that was coming from behind her and focus on the noise her teacher was making. Instead, she found herself looking sideways and narrowed her eyes at the look on Sharpay Evans face. Her friend, who was dressed rather brightly in a loud pink shirt and demure white skirt, hastily rearranged her features to look sympathetic instead of half-exasperated and half-humored. Gabriella turned her attention away from her friend and to the board. What the hell was so funny about her getting annoyed at 'the Troy Bolton'?

Before she could contemplate it further or even devise a way of killing Troy and making it look like an accident, the bell rang and Gabriella let out a breath of relief before she drew it sharply back in when she felt someone's breath on her ear.

"You know, you could do it now and no-one will even notice." Gabriella let out a warning growl and whipped her head around so fast she had a feeling that she flicked him with her hair. The thought left her grinning grimly.

"Over my dead body Troy." She spat at him and he raised his eyebrows and Gabriella wished that once, just once, he could look provoked. Instead, he let out a low laugh and his eyes twinkled.

"You know you want to Brie. Admit it and put yourself out of your own misery." Gabriella's mouth dropped open at his light tone and she just stared as he strolled out of the classroom, his shoulders shaking slightly leaving her without a doubt that he was laughing at her again.

"Gabs, move, we have to go to my locker." Sharpay tapped her on the head and Gabriella let out a groan before gathering her books and following her friend out of the classroom.

"Why can't he leave me alone? Seriously, what's his problem?" She complained to her friend as they weaved their way through the throng of students that filled the hall.

"Oh come off it Gabriella, you know what Troy's problem is." Sharpay scoffed as she glared at one of the girls who was in her way. The girl jumped and scrambled aside as Gabriella sent her an apologetic smile before snapping back at Sharpay.

"Are you kidding me? I have no idea what his problem is! Honestly, don't you think he would have gotten the hint by now?" Gabriella asked, tightening her grip on her books as she was jostled. Sharpay rolled her eyes and Gabriella resisted the urge to say 'I saw that'.

"Uh no. Gabriella, you haven't been dropping any hints either. You've just been reacting to everything that comes out of his mouth. Besides, didn't you want to kiss him at one stage during break?" Gabriella's mouth dropped open at Sharpay's question and, for a moment, she didn't know how to reply to her friend's question.

"No!" She exclaimed vehemently and then relented slightly at the look Sharpay sent her. "It was for science." The excuse came out of no where and Sharpay stopped dead, turning to stare at her friend as Gabriella scrunched up her nose slightly, trying to figure out where, exactly, that had come from.

"Really? You spending basically all of spring break with Troy Bolton was simply for science?" Sharpay's disbelieving questions made Gabriella seriously regret opening her mouth at all before she could correct her mistake, she nodded and attempted to make it believable.

"Yeah. Science." She agreed and Sharpay's eyebrow rose as she waited for a further explanation. Gabriella found herself at loss as to how to continue to the lie and instead waited for the questions to start coming.

"So when Chad and I found you two curled up in your bed together, it was for science?" Sharpay asked and Gabriella nodded frantically, her mind trying to make what she was about to say scientific enough for Sharpay to believe.

"Uh-huh. I wanted to see how one body reacts to another upon close proximity and examine how quickly a body heated up when being warmed by another body." Gabriella said, knowing that what she was saying would have had anyone else staring at her like she was completely insane.

"Okay," Sharpay drew out the word and Gabriella waited for the next question. "And when I caught you guys in that room at the party, curled up on the bed and discussing to 'Kill a Mockingbird', that was scientific as well?" Sharpay asked and Gabriella nodded, wondering why Sharpay simply sounded curious instead of disbelieving.

"Of course. I wanted to note any differences between the male way of speaking and the female." Gabriella said emphatically, not really knowing why she was being so insistent and wishing that Sharpay would continue.

"Okay, one more." Sharpay said as they stopped outside the biology room. Gabriella nodded and waited patiently, her eyes flicking over some of the students as she waited for Sharpay to gather her thoughts.

"So when Chad and I stumbled across you and Troy on the pool chair _just_ about to kiss, in a very sweet manner might I add, and you promised him 'later' when we interrupted, it was for science?" Sharpay asked triumphantly as Gabriella stared at her stumped. How was she going to explain that one?

Instead of thinking about it, Gabriella found herself getting annoyed and shook her head violently. Stomping into the room, Gabriella sat down at the very back of the class and wished that she hadn't even blurted out the stupid excuse.

So she'd spent spring break with Troy Bolton, East Highs God, who cared? Did Sharpay really have to bring up all those moments where Gabriella had been so close to him, she probably could have kissed him? Not that she had been replaying those memories over and over again in her mind, wondering why she was so mad at him now that they had returned from break. Not that, despite all the snappy words she'd been exchanging with him through out the first few days, she still _really_ wanted to kiss him. She just didn't like the fact that he kept asking her for the kiss that she'd so stupidly promised him and she _really_ didn't like the fact that couldn't forget exactly how close they'd been when Chad and Sharpay had interrupted them.

But what she hated the most, out of everything, was that she had been so sure he would have come back to school and forgotten all about her. Instead he had come back and was annoying her no end.

Feeling rather than hearing someone place books down onto the desk, Gabriella glanced up. Before she could stop herself, she let out a frustrated half-scream and felt the need to throw a temper tantrum. A need she hadn't felt since she was three. The person next to her chuckled and sat down.

"Hey, I thought you weren't in this class." Troy spoke quietly and Gabriella glanced at the teacher and realized that the lesson had started and any hope of escaping him had been lost. Folding her arms she leaned back into her chair.

"I wasn't. My timetable changed for some reason." She said shortly, hoping that it would stop any further conversation. He leaned closer and Gabriella realized that she wasn't going to escape him.

"Really? Hmmm, I wonder why that is." Gabriella fought the smile that wanted to spread across her lips as she acknowledged the teasing tone of Troy's voice.

"I have no idea. It must have clashed with something else." She said and Troy nodded, studying her intently through lazy blue eyes. Gabriella stared back at him, wondering what he was thinking as he leaned forward a little more.

"So…are you gonna tell me why your so annoyed with me? Or are you annoyed with yourself?" He asked huskily and Gabriella leaned away from him slightly, annoyed that he seemed to have a good idea of what was going on with her.

"I'm not annoyed with you. I'm just…not happy with you." Gabriella said and then scrunched her nose as she realized that she'd contradicted herself. Troy seemed to realize it too and chuckled lightly.

"Okay. So, what did I do that could honestly make you this annoyed with me?" He inquired, glancing up as the teacher stopped speaking. Gabriella looked up too, noticing that there were questions on the board and ignoring them.

"You didn't forget about me." She blurted out, stunning both her and Troy. Realizing how dumb it sounded, Gabriella wanted to bang her head on the table and instead, averted her gaze from his.

"Right. So you're annoyed with me because we spent basically all of spring break with each other and you expected me to come back to school and forget all about you?" He asked and when she didn't respond, he continued. "And then when I didn't, you got annoyed because I once again didn't do what you wanted me to do and instead began annoying you about that kiss that never happened. Am I right so far?" He asked again and Gabriella nodded reluctantly.

"I guess so." She muttered and knew that he was trying to cover a laugh with his cough before he kept going.

"So to cover up the fact that you still want to kiss me you told Sharpay that you spent all that time with me during break for a scientific experiment?" Troy asked casually and Gabriella's eyes widened as he repeated her excuse to Sharpay. Turning her head, she stared at him disbelievingly.

"How the hell do you know all of that?" She asked in amazement and Troy shrugged, a smug smirk adorning his face and making his eyes twinkle.

"I got a pretty good grasp on you during break. Besides, I overheard the scientific experiment excuse when you told Sharpay. That hurt, I thought I meant more to you." The dramatic mockery caused Gabriella to glare at him and she folded her arms. She didn't know how to respond to him and contented herself with glaring at the desk. Instead of being deterred, Troy chuckled and leaned even closer.

"Go away." Gabriella snapped and then turned her head carefully when she felt his breath on her cheek.

"I've got a better scientific experiment for you," he whispered and Gabriella's eyes flew to his lips and then back again, having a vague idea what he was talking about.

"Really? And what would that be?" She asked and Troy grinned, shifting slightly in his seat to bring himself closer to her.

"How about how your hormones react when someone you like kisses you?" He suggested and Gabriella glared at him. Before she could open her mouth to reply, Troy pressed his lips against hers gently. Gabriella's eyes widened at the contact and she felt herself go rigid before Troy pulled back.

"Why did you do that?" She hissed at him and Troy grinned, giving Gabriella the impression that he knew she was going to react that way and had done it just out of his own amusement.

"I was experimenting. I have a new one now, wanna hear it?" Troy asked, glancing at their teacher and making sure that she hadn't realized what was going on up the back. Gabriella glared at him.

"No. Not really." Gabriella snapped, opening her text book and desperately trying to find the page they were meant to be working from in an attempt to distract herself.

"Too bad. You gotta look at me though," Gabriella reluctantly turned her head to look at him and tensed when his hand slipped beneath the curtain of her hair and began to caress her neck.

"I'm looking at you. Will you stop touching me please?" She asked loudly and then blushed when the people in front of them turned around to stare at them. She hadn't meant it _that_ way. Troy chuckled again and nodded at the people staring at them, they turned back around glancing over their shoulders every now and again.

"Now _that _was classy," Troy said and then focused his attention back on her. "Okay, this new one is to test your resistance to me. I want to know how long it's going to take before I can get _you_ to kiss _me_." He said with a cocky grin that probably would have melted Gabriella's resistance if she wasn't so incensed that he thought he could get her to kiss him.

"Right and my experiment is that I have to see if I can be completely indifferent to you and your touch, right?" She asked in a bored, dry tone that had Troy smirking. Gabriella resisted the urge to bite her lip and instead glanced at the teacher and then realized that she couldn't see them at all from her position at her desk.

She jumped slightly when she felt Troy slip his arm around her and his hand up the back of her shirt. She knew he was fighting a smirk when she shivered slightly as he began to rub soothing circles on the small of her back. Heat was radiating from where he was touching and Gabriella bit her lip as she remembered him doing that when they'd attended a party together and she'd gotten cold.

Troy pulled her out of her chair slightly and Gabriella found herself standing as he settled himself more comfortably on his stool, one foot on the floor as so he was still taller than her. Tilting her head slightly, Gabriella suddenly had a thought and reached up to wind one of her arms around his neck, while her other hand slipped beneath the front of his shirt and began to dance across the ridges of his muscles.

"Still indifferent." She whispered teasingly as Troy looked down at her, his stomach muscles clenching slightly when she dragged her nails across his stomach.

"Hmm, interesting. What if I do this?" Gabriella drew in a sharp breath as he rubbed his hand up her back and began to slide his other hand over her shoulder, his fingers dragging along her shoulder lazily as he inclined his head towards her.

"Uh…well…" Gabriella trailed of when his nose brushed her cheek. Damn him! What the hell was wrong with her? One minute she was matching him in this stupid 'experiment' and now she was beginning to fall into a puddle of goo!

"So articulate Brie." He whispered and Gabriella swallowed slightly at the husky sound of his voice.

He moved away from her ear for a moment and Gabriella found herself staring up into his eyes. Somewhere, she realized that there was no way she was going to win this little game, no matter how annoyed she was at him.

"Troy-" She started and then stopped as he clucked his tongue at her.

"Can I have my kiss now?" He asked and Gabriella let out a sigh before realizing that he might stop asking her that if she did indeed relent.

"Fine." She muttered and pressed her lips to his before that she could think about what she was doing. She felt Troy smirk and would have rolled her eyes at him if they hadn't been closed and she hadn't been enjoying the kiss so much.

Two weeks with so many near misses it was frustrating. Another three days were she was annoyed at him for actually speaking to her when she'd been so sure he would ignore her now that they were back. Melted completely as he pulled her closer and held her even more firmly.

"Excuse me. What is going on here?" Gabriella pulled away from Troy so quickly she was positive that if he hadn't been holding her tightly she would have fallen backwards into the chair that she had left behind.

"Uh…its for a scientific experiment." Troy said smiling charmingly at the teacher as she examined the two.

"Oh really? What was your hypothesis?" She asked sounding condescending and Gabriella coughed slightly, glancing at Troy in a signal for him to keep speaking.

"I wanted to see the reaction of the hormones of one person when I kiss them." Troy said still smiling and with his arms still tightly around her. The teacher stared at him for a moment and Gabriella had to wonder if she thought they were crazy.

"Detention. Both of you. Now please get on with your work." The orders were snapped out so suddenly that Gabriella jumped and Troy grinned at her.

He waited until the class had settled down before speaking to her. By that time, Gabriella had opened her textbook and had begun to read in earnest. She knew her cheeks were probably permanently red from what had just happened and she didn't want to turn her head and look at Troy who had been the whole cause of the experiment. How had she gone from being completely annoyed with him and not wanting anything to do with him to kissing him in the middle of class?

"Hey, I think my experiment worked better." Gabriella glanced over at him and couldn't help but return the grin he sent her as their fingers entwined under the table.

Who cared if none of it made sense? Maybe the fact that her mind worked in weird, wonderful ways was a scientific experiment for another day.

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A/N: Ha ha ha, lame. Sorry but I couldn't figure out how else to write it and it just turned out like this! I hope the people who got through to the end enjoyed it!


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